Mother Talk SC Follow-Up

The Mother Talk in South Carolina was really enjoyable. The women there were very excited to participate, and many of them told me afterwards they had never done something like this before, but now that they had, they wanted to make it a regular thing. And in fact it looks like there will be another South Carolina Mother Talk in January!

We gathered at the hostess' house in the afternoon and milled around for a bit, talking and eating and drinking wine. Then we sat down and started talking about "It's a Boy," and about our experiences with sons and the boys in our lives. There were women with teenage sons, women with toddler sons, women with sons and daughters, and women who didn't have boys. Everyone had interesting things to say about the way boys and girls are expected to be, and the way they interact with each other. Eventually, though, the subject turned -- as these things always do -- to judgement, and the way that parents (and specifically mothers) judge each other. From there we talked about feminism, about politics, about blame and insecurity and banding together instead of fighting each other.

Afterwards a woman told me, "Sitting there talking about all this, I was thinking, my gosh, this is the kind of thing I've always wanted to do but never had the chance to before. I hope this is the start of something!"

I hope so, too!